6 Pokes to Decimate...ALL!

[bxchink89]

Hi, Smogoners. I have a new team that i really need edited. the rate of wins-loses is 8-2. I really like this team since it's my first in a long while since i took a hiatus from it for school.

Team Building Process

I wanted to try out my newest set of Lucario which nobody liked and was locked. It features a Sub-Mix Sweeper that is actually quite effective and no one suspects it.

Next I needed a solid revenge killer that is Latias since it can take all of Lucario's weaknesses like fire, ground, and fighting. Naturally, Lucario can take Latias weaknesses. Latias also has solid sp.d stats and sp.a stats that benefit the team in a whole.

Next I wanted Infernape because he could take the ice and dark weakness from Latias and is also a fast solid attacker. I wanted a whole new perspective for Infernape-users not as a mixed sweeper, but as a SpecSweeper. I was skeptic at first when my friend suggested it, but when I tried it, it blasted me away. Hell yea.

I also wanted a Sleep-Talker that that would annoy the crap out of the other team. I also needed WoW to decimate the other team's sweeping potential and stack up damage. That poke was Rotom-H. Awesome poke really since it has like wah...3 immunities. It is also bulky as hell and has a decent Sp. A.

One of my favorite bulky sweepers is Gyarados. I made this set myself based off of the original bulkygyara, except with other moves and different evs. He is there for his taunt which reaks havoc on the other team. It is freaking hot. May the decimation begin.

Finally the lead, Azelf. this looks like every other OU team, but this Azelf is different from those damn suicide leads. Well he does carry explosion, but I think I'll swap it for Fire Blast. He is a Dual-Screen that intends to allow Lucario to set up early game, or Gyarados to attempt an Early Game Sweep.

AN IN DEPTH LOOK AT THIS TEAM!

Azelf @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/252 Spd/4 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Fire Blast

Description: Azelf is very good at setting up screens since its fast and it learns both of them. Stealth Rock is a given since I need a way to stack up residual damage, but it isn't prioritized since it sets up Dual Screen. Usually, I put up what every Atk Style my opponent's starter is. For example, if they are running a Metagross, I would put up a reflect if they Stealth Rock. Then i proceed to put up a screen. If I'm not dead, I'll probably knock off its Occa Berry with Fire Blast. Fire Blast is to deal with pokes so I dont explode on their asses. Why? I might wanna set up screens later in the game. The EV's are very self-explantory. 252 Hp to boost my bulk and 252 speed is also very self-explantory. 4 Sp.A is to boost Fire Blast a bit.

Lucario (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 12 HP/240 Atk/92 Spd/164 SAtk
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Punch (trying)
- HP ICE
​

Description: Lemme get this straight for a second. I WILL NOT CHANGE THIS SET! I'm sorry, but I really am attached to this set since it really works and no one cares Q_Q! It might not be super-fast or super strong, but it gets at least 2 kills. Substitute is the name of the game in this set as it eases prediction and allows me to survive more hits. If I use Substitute on a poke that hates Lucario, they switch out to their counter. Scouting their team. Most likely its a Gliscor. While he tries to break my sub, Ice Punch, its a done deal. Shadow Ball is one of Lucario's best Sp. A moves and not a lot of things resist Ghost. Cross Chop is chosen over Close Combat because the Def. and Sp. D can easily break my sub.
Ice Punch to take care of Ground Types and mainly Gliscor.

Latias (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Speed/ 252 Sp.A
Timid (+Speed -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Description: Standard Revenge Killing Scarf Latias. Except i added more to HP and less speed. It is already scarfed so speed isn't as necessary as constant taking hits. Modest Nature to smack harder with Latias's awesome sp.a. Draco Meteor is its best STAB move with a power of 210. Surf is a great move to take out T-Tar, and it provides great coverage. Thunderbolt is to revenge-kill pokes killing my lovely-nape. Trick is to trick up walls and to mess around with items hopefully snatching up a Leftovers if possible.

Infernape (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+ Speed -Atk)
- Vacuum Wave
- Grass Knot
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Description: Awesome set that no one expects this poke doing this type of style. SpecsNape is actually a very strong pokemon that easily out speeds Mence and OHKOs with HP Ice. Vacuum Wave is for a nice priority stab plus a 460 Sp.A is amazing. GK is to deal with ground and water types. Fire Blast is also for general stab. HP Ice is to deal with Mence, and other dragons that pesk Nape. SpecsNape also packs surprise that not everyone notices. Fire Blast STABBED with Specs Boost OHKOS a lot of things that one would normally not suspect. Fire Blast 2HKOs Mence which is really awesome even though it resists it.

Rotom-h @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/120 Def/136 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Shadow Ball
- Will-o-wisp

Description: Completely ruins the opponents team as it WoW's them when I switch into a scizor whos scared of me. It also looks like a Spin Blocker since it Rotom-H with Overheat. But boy r they wrong. Its the basic SleepTalk set utilizing Shadow Ball instead of T-Bolt since I liked Shadow Balls SP.D drop. Rest is to absorb a status and then restore my hp. SLeep Talk is in hopes of randomly WoWing a poke which is always awesome, if not Shadow Ball is cool. Not many pokemon like Rotom-H with its overheat and bulkiness, but damn does he work.

Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP/124 Atk/84 Def/144 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Taunt
- Waterfall
- Earthquake

Description: My favorite Water Pokemon by far and he is awesome. With D-Dance and Taunt, I can come in on, lets say Dusknoir, Taunt him, and then proceed to set up D-Dance. The Ev's increase bulkiness so he can take more smacks. 120 Atk is to boost his already tremendous Atk. 84 Def allows me to survive some hits and up Gyarados's rather low 79 base Def. Dragon Dance is to up Speed and Atk. Taunt is to reduce chances of me getting status'd. Waterfall is his basic STAB move, I op'd for Aqua Tail, but the Accuracy kinda ticked me off. Waterfall is better. Earthquake is to take out incoming Elecs. barring Zapdos. However, I do not think he would enjoy a +1 Waterfall to the face. It would do 33-49% which is alot considering Stealth Rock is up.

Please rate. thank you.

 

[hobo bob]

Why not put Focus Punch on Lucario? If you are going to be behind a sub then you wont have to worry about getting hit. STAB Focus Punch is nothing to laugh and should be able to net you at least one suprise kill or really weaken Scarmory. The best part of Focus Punch is its negative priority meaning that you will hit Skarm on the Roost if he tries to heal, getting hit with a super effective base 300 attack (not even factoring in STAB).

 

[Deaga]

Anything will break Lucario's substitute very easiliy regardless of Def and SDef drops... It's defenses are just too bad, an'd doing 25% damage to it isn't hard at all. Close Combat is much better, as it is stronger and won't miss. if anything, the substitute will prevent something from OHKOing it after the defense drops (They'll kill the sub, not Luke).

 

[Lady Shinki]

a couple small things.

Since your specsape only has special moves, go ahead and run a timid nature so you don't unnecessarily lower your defenses.

I second trying close combat on your sublucario for two big reasons: one, most counters that are brought out will outspeed your lucario with its smaller speed investment, so it won't get hit on its -1 defenses by their first attack; two, its power is high enough to threaten more foes that cross chop could only do with a crit. Especially with cross chop's miss chance, close combat seems like a better choice. Also, is there a reason for the EV set you chose? Does it get any particular KOs you're looking for? Outspeed particular foes?

Rest-talking rotom is solid defensively and a great scare to any steel you bring it in on but the attacks you run leave you wide open for heatran to come out and hammer you with fire blast (or put up a sub and THEN attack you), and heatran is a common switchin vs. rotom-h. I think you should switch to this rotom-h set:

Rotom-h @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/64 Def/192 Spe
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ground
- Shadow Ball
- Will-o-wisp

This gives you an effective way to hit heatran without revealing your specsape, kill gyarados before it uses DD, and outspeed adamant lucario to burn it (and other things that aim for 280 speed to outrun lucario) while maintaining some defensive bulk.

Just some opinions, I like this team :)

 

[hobo bob]

Yes please enlight us on Luc's EVs. If you dont use Focus Punch, then Close Combat is the better choice. As mentioned before his defenses are so weak that it wont take a def drop to break a 25% sub since he is very frail.

 

[Dark Paladin7]

Hi, I like where the team is going, but I think there is a few things that need to be addressed. The first thing I see is lucarios' moveset. I have used mixcario before, though not with sub. The first thing I would do is put close combat over cross chop. It is more powerful, but the main reason is the accuracy, close combat's is 100 and cross chop's is onlu 80. Also I find dark pulse to be better than shadow ball, Hp ice is also so much better than ice punch, as bulky grounds invest in defence, not SDef, allowing you to do more damage. Latias' nature must be changed. Latias' nature needs to be timid to outspeed salamence after one dragon dance. That is much more important than doing a little more damagem it also helps more after you trick. Speaking of salamence, you really have no switch in to outrage or draco meteor. lucario has a resist, but it's so frail that it doesn't matter. What I suggest is using Heatran instead of infernape. They are similar, but heatran has many other resists and is much bulkier, making it easy to switch in. I suggest using this, if you want to keep your lead (I'll get into that more later).

Heatran @ Life Orb/Leftovers
4 Atk/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Timid/Naive
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Taunt/Substitute
Hp Grass/ Explosion

It hits plenty hard while keeping its' bulk. Taunt if you want it to take care of stall, and sub if you want to take advantage of the screens your lead provides. Leftovers if you like the extra health, and life orb if you like the damage. Hp Grass for pert, which none of your team likes, and explosion is just great in general, though I would do Hp Grass if I were you. You can adjust it to fit the team's needs, though I would do an offensive set, a defensive one would slow the team down too much.

My next suggestion is to replace starmie with azelf, I find its' ability to spin makes it more useful than azelf. The set is Surf, Reflect, Light screen, Rapid Spin, with 252 Hp and 252 Spe Timid with light clay. This is not really necessary, but I find starmie to be more useful than azelf. Also, it has better resistances, so it can come in easier to set up more screens or spin later. If you do this, then use shucatran. The set is heatran @ shuca berry, Fire Blast, Earth Power, Stealth Rock, Hp Grass/Explosion, with 4Atk 252 SAtk, and 252 Spe timid/naive.

In Short
- Give lucario a moveset of close combat, dark pulse, hp ice, sub
- Change latias a timid nature, same evs (This is extremely important!)
- Change infernape to heatran (see above to the heatran set)
- (This one is optional) Change azelf to starmie, the set is in the paragraph above, also has my reasons. If you do this, then use shucatran, again in the set above.

Thats pretty much it, gl with your team

Edit: might want to use focus punch

 

[MetaGross66]

I really admire your creativity and see this Lucario as more of a stall breaker Lucario. It's pretty neat actually having the ability to sub and then KO a Gliscor as it comes in just to break it. I'd go with a nature lowering Defense for the ability to take on stall better as it is leaning more toward special attacks the way I see it, and they'll have a harder time breaking the sub with the special defense. Also, go with focus punch over Cross chop. Hitting Skarmory even harder is just too good to pass up. Finally, change Ice punch to HP ice. It hits things like gliscor harder. This set is actually quite interesting. You just need to work on it a little more. Gl! :)

 

[cheexyn]

If I use Substitute on a poke that hates Lucario, they switch out to their counter. Scouting their team. Most likely its a Gliscor. While he tries to break my sub, Ice Punch, its a done deal.

Would like to understand how this Lucario KOs Gliscor.

Lucario with 240Attack EVs and a neutral nature vs. Gliscor with 252hp EVs, 40 Def EVs and a positive nature. Using Ice punch, 59.9% - 71.2%. How does this translate to "a done deal"?

Another thing, I notice a slight Gengar weakness amongst your team, especially if it runs sub, or even one that is scarfed. In your team 3 pokemon are weak to its STAB shadow ball (Azelf, Latias, Rotom-H), 1 dies to thunderbolt (Gyarados) and Lucario is weak to focus blast; that leaves frail Infernape who can't outspeed and gets hit for 85.3% - 100.7% by Gengar's shadow ball, and taking stealth rock into account (Azelf doesn't run taunt), its a high chance of a 1HKO. It can pretty much outspeed and sweep up your entire team, although I admit Gengars are not seen very often now.

Just what I thought of your team. Good luck.

 

[Shimrit As]

Hey,

Won't be nitpicking about that Lucario since you like it and it works for you. I have some complaints about the Gyarados though.

Firstly, it has 504 EV points. Possibly an oversight on your part.

Next, although you have tweaked the Bulky Gyarados EV spread to outspeed Jolly Weavile, I feel that it is not optimized to produce the maximum stats.

Instead, give it an adamant nature and 236 speed EVs, and bump the attack EVs down to 32. It gives you the exact same stats as your current spread, but 6 more points in attack.

I also feel you should change fire blast on Azelf to taunt. It shuts down the same leads you're hitting (Forretress, Skarmory, Metagross), and also prevents Stealth Rock from being set-up, in the process giving your team (especially Gyarados) more freedom switching in and out.

That's all.

 

[bxchink89]

I'll try it guys. But in fact everyone who says that Luc's sub can be easily taken down is actually wrong. Luke isn't suppose to come in after a poke dies. It to surprise the opponents team so i can get the sub up and scout. I will try focus punch on Lucario, but definitely not Close Combat. I have tried Close Combat and Lucario dies more often. The 12 Ev's to HP ensures that max IV'ed Lucario gets health divisible by four. Speed isn't actually the issue with Gyarados since everytime I switch into gyarados, I force something to swith out so then I can DD up and virtual nothing (bar pokes with scarf) can outspeed. I will change Lucario's Ice Punch to HP Ice since it does OHKO Gliscor and it is special. I don't see how I can counter Gengar with my current set, but I will boost my Latias's Ev's to speed 252 and 4 hp so i can outspeed it, since it will most likely speed tie. However, Shadow Ball will not OHKO Latias. It will come close, but it wont.

 

[MetaGross66]

If it doesn't KO Latias, try Crunch and a Lonely nature to make Focus Punch hurt more. Lucario is actually pretty bulky with resistances to a lot of things including Dragon. Under DS, it's amazing if you look at what it can set up on.

 

[Aura Guardian]

The Ground types you target with Lucario tend to have more defense Without Ice Punch, Lucario will never OHKO Gliscor (even after SR) without a Critical Hit. I recommend HP Ice instead, The two Gliscor whose top jobs involve countering Lucario are always OHKOed, even at full health. As a change to the set, it would be relatively minor. So I do recommend a minor change to Lucario.

 

[bxchink89]

I changed it on Shoddy.